In July, the state of Missouri began offering for free a vaccine aimed at preventing, among other ailments, whooping cough. According to officials, the TDap vaccine, which reportedly prevents tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, was necessary because “of the rising incidence of whooping cough is reported to be related to the vaccine wearing off if given more than ten years earlier,” says an online report.

Photo: Noodles and Beef via Flickr.

Citing a St. Louis Post Dispatch article, Michelle Goldstein of VacTruth.com says some 41,000 cases of pertussis occurred in the U.S. in 2012, compared to less than 19,000 cases in the previous year – thus the need for the new vaccine.

“The news story emphasized that whooping cough is highly dangerous and can lead to vomiting and death, especially in children. The report indicates that diphtheria is a bacterial disease that is highly contagious and can also lead to death,” Goldstein writes, adding that tetanus can cause severe muscle spasms.

Natural remedies, treatments can work without risk

What the paper failed to report, however, is that there are serious health risks associated with the Tdap vaccines. Also, there are relatively benign health implications that are commonly associated with the diseases the vaccine is intended to prevent – “along with the important fact that vaccines have never been proven to prevent any disease,” Goldstein said.

She adds:

The risks that whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus pose to health are low compared to the potential, serious dangers reported as a result of this vaccine. Whooping cough can be treated successfully through a vitamin C protocol developed by Dr. Suzanne Humphries which has been shown to greatly reduce symptoms. In contrast, antibiotic treatments, given routinely by conventional, allopathic physicians to treat whooping cough, have never been shown to positively impact the course of the illness.

Whatever the standard medical treatments, most people fully recover from whooping cough, which then gives them lifetime immunity from it. If they should become re-infected, Goldstein writes, subsequent episodes are generally “quite mild.”

Meanwhile, tetanus can be prevented in a number of ways without ever receiving a vaccine. For instance, simply thoroughly washing and cleaning cuts can prevent the disease. And in actuality, contracting the disease in the first place is rare; just “233 cases of tetanus were reported to the Center for Disease Control between 2001 and 2008,” Goldstein points out, citing the federal agency’s own figures. “The incidence of tetanus declined by more than 95% between 1947 and 2008.”

Finally, diphtheria is also a low-risk disease, and one that is not seen widely in the U.S. since an outbreak in the 1970s. Over the 30-year period between 1980 and 2010, just 55 cases of the disease were reported to the CDC.

Vaccine dangers outweigh risk of actually getting the disease

he dangers of getting a Tdap vaccine can also be significant. According to Goldstein:

Health consequences resulting from the Tdap vaccine include encephalitis, brain damage and death. A comprehensive report made by the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) documents clearly the widespread health dangers associated with the Tdap vaccine. Tdap and DTap vaccines are currently used in the United States, replacing the DTP vaccine in 1996, but all three vaccines contain the dangerous pertussis toxin with unsafe additives.

Furthermore, experts note, the fact that whooping cough even occurs in “vaccinated” populations is a sign that vaccines are not effective at preventing the disease.